Near's Discovery
by Citrine Nebulae
Summary: Near may be a genius, but what happens when a shocking medical mystery causes him to have to ask for help? One-shot. Silly. Not to be taken seriously.


**So this was thought up when I was watching Bolt. Haha. Don't even ask. Near is pretty OOC in this, so don't hate me. Gawsh. Enjoy!**

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The happy, energetic voices of children on their way to dinner filled the halls of Wammy's House. Normally the traffic would be much more sparse, but as it had done nothing but rain all day, the children had been cooped up inside. They were obviously pleased to be out of their rooms, on their way to generous helpings of Chef's Crème brûlée. At the edge of the tide, by the wall, the small albino child Near was trying to squeeze through the tide without being harmed.

Near never went to mealtimes with the other students. He disliked the volume of the others. But he had spent the day in the library, like always, and unfortunately miscalculated the time it'd take to get back to his room. He'd been caught up in the stampede, and could do nothing but try not to be crushed by hugging close to the wall.

"Out of the way!" a blond boy growled, pushing a kid. He parted the crowd on both sides, forcing the other students to the sides, just like Near had been. A redheaded boy, Matt, sauntered after Mello with a lopsided grin on his face, but his eyes were on his handheld video game.

With the other students forced to the side, Near was somehow squeezed back to the outside, right in Mello's path. He looked up at the blond with apathetic eyes, waiting patiently to be squashed. The other students saw what was about to happen and sped up, running over each other, trying to get to the dining hall before they were caught in the beatings.

Mello spared no energy.

"Move it, sheep!" he spat, viciously pushing Near to the side. Near lost his balance and slammed into the crown paneled wall at an angle. Pain slashed through the hand he had put out to protect himself from the impact. Mello swept forward, hardly looking at him. Matt paused a bit, glancing at Near.

Near was cradling the hand that was hurt, looking at it in disbelief. Matt stopped completely.

"What?" Matt asked, confused. Near had never shown that kind of weakness or emotion after being assaulted by Mello. He'd just get up and brush himself off emotionlessly, then continue on his way.

"I -," Near started, looking at him with shocked eyes.

Matt waited for Near to finish, but Linda turned the corner of the hallway they were in and stopped short when she saw the pair.

"What's going on?" she asked sharply. She was rather protective of Near, and frequently got into fights with Mello over the small boy. But Matt had never thrown any kind of punches at Near. She made her way over to the two boys, watching Near, who still was struggling to form words.

"I – I -," he stammered. "Wh-?"

Linda and Matt exchanged glances. Finally, Near seemed to get a hold of himself.

"What is this red liquid coming from my finger?" he asked, looking partly hysterical and partly dismayed. He held up his hurt hand so they could see. Sure enough, a shockingly red amount of blood was seeping from a shallow cut. Matt looked at the crown paneled wall. There were definitely sharp edges there.

Matt was slightly amused. Near had taken numerous beatings from Mello, but he had never bled. It's incredible it took even this long. And the wall had to do the job.

"It's called blood, Near," Linda said, looking perplexed.

He paused, looking at his finger, turning it around. The blood was just beginning to stain the sleeve of the white pajama top he was wearing.

"Do I need it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Matt said, with a hint of smile. "And if you want to keep it inside your body, where it belongs, you should stop walking near Mello in the hallway."

"Well, normally I'm a tad more cautious about things like that. I wasn't expecting everyone to leave for dinner at once today," Near said, calming down. He held his hand close again and started walking in the other direction, leaving Linda and Matt behind.

Back in his room, he wrapped a small bandage around the cut and changed pajama shirts so that his sleeves were crisp and white and unmarked again.

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**See? That was fun. And it took a grand total of fifteen minutes. Well spent time, imo.**

**Reviewers make authors happy. Happy authors make cupcakes. Happy authors share cupcakes with reviewers. Love!**


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